


My Life Wants To Imitate Your Art

by ChibiYoda



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, This Is My Ship and It Has Wrecked Me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-26 18:36:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2662247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiYoda/pseuds/ChibiYoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Turns out Bruce likes reading smutty fanfic.  Who knew?  Well, nobody. Until Tony found out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Life Wants To Imitate Your Art

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a prompt that had asked for Bruce writing smutty fanfic. But since I can't write smut for myself, I certainly couldn't come up with anything to pass off as Bruce's. Had to change it to him just reading it.
> 
> Dialogue between the asterisks (**) was taken directly from "Spun Glass" by ifitwasribald. (http://archiveofourown.org/works/453964)

So, testing the upgrades to the suit didn't go quite as planned. Well what fun would it be if everything was predictable? Tony debated this, while on his way to Bruce's lab. The cleanup in the garage was going to take some time. He wanted to tweak a couple of things while the ideas were fresh in his mind, so he decided to use Bruce's space in the meantime. Bruce was at some boring foreign film with Natasha and Steve, so Tony knew he wouldn't be in Bruce's way.

 

Within the first hour, Tony had materials scattered everywhere. He'd contentedly lost himself in his work. Good thing he was working alone. Bruce is much more organized, and probably would have been annoyed with the mess. 

Another hour had passed. No sign of Bruce yet. Tony assumed that the trio stopped somewhere to eat afterward. Mmmm, food. A snack sounded pretty good right then. He abandoned his project for the moment, and walked to the cupboards in the small kitchen area of the lab. After rummaging through a whole lot of nothing, he managed to scrape up some shortbread cookies. Those would do nicely.

The only area of the room that he hadn't overtaken as of yet was Bruce's desk. Tony made himself comfortable in the chair, and set the package of cookies down, when his hand happened to brush against the mouse, causing the monitor to come to life. Bruce must have neglected to turn it off. Tony amused himself by deciding to change the wallpaper background. He began searching for images that were already loaded. He came across lots of pretty pictures of landscapes and waterfalls. Boring! He fished out his phone, stuck out his tongue at the lens, and transferred it over. There. Much better.

As he admired his handiwork, he glanced over the myriad of icons which peppered the screen. Most were labeled with project names and such. Then he spotted one simply titled 'FF'. For lack of anything more interesting to do at the moment, he clicked on it.

Inside were about forty to fifty text documents of various sizes, with bizarre titles. He opened the first one on the list. It took him a moment to process that it was a story. The author was obviously using a penname, as he doubted that anyone would actually name their kid 'Bluebird's Nest'. It had a rating - 'M'. He would soon find out what that meant as he began to read.

'...It was late in the evening when Tony sashayed into Bruce's lab...'

Tony and Bruce? They couldn't possibly be talking about...

He spotted his last name further in.

"Wait, this is me and Bruce? What the... I don't sashay!" He didn't realize he was thinking aloud.

He kept reading, and before he knew what hit him, he was bombarded with mental images of him and Bruce doing...things...together. Holy Crap!

He decided to see if this was an anomaly, and clicked on the next story on the list. Hmmm, different author. This one was rated 'E'. He perused.

Nope, nope - not an anomaly!

Still in mild shock, he opened a few more, just to get the gist of them and, yep, there was a definite theme going on here. 'Well, well Brucie. You're a dirty boy aren't you? And it seems that you want to be dirty with me.'

Tony hadn't expected it in the least. He wondered how long his friend had been struggling with this obvious attraction to him. Bruce certainly had a lid on it. Tony had no idea that Bruce was even into guys. After all, he'd only ever mentioned Betty.

He read some of the shorter stories all the way through, and skimmed over the longer ones, stopping on their 'good parts'. He really wanted to meet some of these authors, because whoa, hey, he never even thought of some of this stuff, and the least he could do was thank them for the ideas.

Then he came across one that gave him pause. What the heck did 'Always a Girl Tony' mean, and why was his name being spelled with an 'i' in the text? It didn't take him long to figure it out once he opened the file. 'I'm a girl? Well that's just wrong!' He read it anyway, just to see what Bruce could possibly have enjoyed about this particular phenomenon.

Yeah, it was hot.

He made mental notes of the...activities, and themes that showed up repeatedly, figuring that these were the things Bruce would be most interested in. He also paid special attention to the stories that had an asterisk at the title. He deduced that these must be Bruce's very favorites. It's always the quiet ones, he thought. They're the ones who surprise you. And this was a pleasant surprise indeed.

 

"Tony, what the hell?" Bruce and the others had returned to the tower, and upon learning that Tony was in his lab, Bruce decided to go and see what he was up to.

"I made a little mess in the garage, and I needed a place to work for a while." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you think you could condense your 'work' to maybe a portion of the space, and leave some room for me?" Bruce likened the scene to something out of a disaster movie.

"I'll clean it up. Keep your shirt on." Then Tony had an idea. "Unless of course you want to take it off." He smiled innocently.

Bruce really didn't understand the comment, but he never knew what was going on in Tony's head half the time, so he let it slide.

Tony, on the other hand, was going to have a little fun.

 

***

The following morning, Tony went down to Bruce's lab to see if his cleanup efforts met Bruce's standards. As he entered, he attempted to 'sashay', but since he didn't know what that entailed exactly, he opted for a typical appearance.

"Good Morning Brucie. Did I leave your space in a manner satisfactory to you?"

Bruce looked up from his screen and cocked his head. "Yes Tony, everything is fine. Thank you."

"No thanks necessary. It's my pleasure." Tony strolled up behind Bruce, ran a hand lightly across his shoulders, leaned in and whispered, "I'm good at satisfying you, huh?"

Bruce twitched as Tony's breath hit his ear. "Uhh, sure."

Tony abruptly turned, then slowly walked out of the room, leaving Bruce to wonder what the hell just happened.

 

Later that evening, the tower's residents has gathered for an impromptu dinner. Since it was just subs and fries, they decided to eat in the living room, and watch a hockey game. Clint and Natasha sat on the sofa, Steve on the recliner, and Tony commandeered the empty space on the loveseat, next to Bruce.

Tony watched Bruce intently, but as casually as he could manage. What an actor, he thought. All those racy scenarios playing out in his mind, yet he pretends to be all innocent and geeky. 

At one point during the meal, Tony noticed some mayo on the corner of Bruce's mouth. "You've got a little something...", he gestured at his own lips in explanation. "Here, let me." He reached out with a finger, collected the condiment, then quite suggestively sucked it from said finger.

Sweet, oblivious Bruce watched the display through narrowed eyes, wondering how Tony manages to sexualize even the most mundane act. He recognizes it, but hasn't a clue that it's being deliberately directed at him. It's just Tony trying to draw attention to himself, as usual. 

 

***

The next day, Tony decided to go for broke. Bruce obviously wanted him, and they'd be old and grey if he waited around for the physicist to make the first move. He went down to his workshop, as quite a bit of the fictional action took place there. "JARVIS, please ask Dr. Banner to come down to the garage. Tell him I need his assistance."

Tony was dressed in a black tank top and perfectly fitted jeans. He finished the look by smearing a little grease on his arms, and spritzing some water on his face and chest to simulate sweat. He'd remembered this description of himself in more than one of those stories. He had JARVIS alert him when Bruce was a minute or so out, so that he could pretend to be working under the hood of one of his cars, his rear end pointing in the direction of Bruce's approach.

 

"Hey Tony, what's up?"

You, if I do this right, Tony thought. He banged a couple of tools around for show, before turning to acknowledge Bruce. He wiped pretend dirt from his hands with a rag, which he then tossed aside, as Bruce came up next to him.

It happened so fast, but now that Tony knew to look for it he noticed the other man's eyes giving him a quick once-over. He smiled and held Bruce's gaze for a moment before speaking. "Well, I accidentally backed up into DUM-E, because you know how he tends to hover, and I need you to check and see if I have a cut or something."

Bruce's expression turned to mild concern. "Oh sure, are you ok?"

"Yeah, but it hurts like hell. Here, I'll take this off, to make it easier." He stripped off his tank, and turned his back to Bruce.

"Uhh, I don't see anything unusual. Whereabouts did you hit it?" Bruce asked, as he scanned Tony's skin.

"Kinda in the middle area." he responded, trying to be vague. "Really...nothing?"

"Nope."

"Not even a bump?"

Bruce reluctantly ran his fingers over that general area of Tony's back. Maybe for just a second or two longer than he really needed to. Tony is certain that he could hear Bruce swallow. He picked this moment to 'drop' his shirt that he'd been holding.

"Ooops." He bent over to retrieve it, lightly brushing his rear against Bruce's front.

Bruce flinched, and took a step back. That was the last straw. Tony had been acting weird for two days now, and Bruce was beginning to feel like he might be the butt of one of his jokes. "Look Tony, you've been acting a little strange lately. What's going on? What is it that you want exactly?" Bruce was more frustrated and confused than angry.

Bingo! Right from Bruce's pouty lips. A perfect setup. Tony turned slowly, and stared directly into Bruce's eyes. **"I want you to fuck me. I want you to fuck me like I won't break. I want you to leave bruises, and I want you to like it." **

There was dead silence. A visibly stunned Bruce recognized that combination of words immediately. It was a verbatim excerpt from one of his favorite fanfics.

Tony had found his stash of slash.

Oh shit. His brain quickly ran off a list of possible outcomes. a) Tony will be disgusted and pissed, and Bruce will have to leave. b) Tony will razz him mercilessly for the rest of his life, and Bruce will have to leave. c) Tony will calmly tell him that he's not interested, their friendship will become awkward and strained, and Bruce will have to leave.

What he did not expect to hear was...

"Earth to Bruce. I'm serious here."

Bruce stood befuddled. "You...what?"

"I had no idea you were into me. You did an admirable job of hiding it. But because you're such a good actor, we've wasted a whole lot of time that would have been better spent recreating scenes from some of your naughty stories."

The fact that filthy thoughts were wafting through Tony's mind was evident on his face, and Bruce had never understood the term 'eye fucking' until this moment. He shoved aside his embarrassment at his secret being discovered. His fantasy was being offered to him, and he was going to take it. He was so sick of being denied the things he wanted.

Bruce did exactly as Tony requested.

 

Sometime afterward, they lay on Tony's bed, the engineer slightly awestruck by his normally shy and quiet friend. If this was how a dose of erotica affected him, Tony was considering hiring a full-time smut writer for Bruce.

Bruce was content, and feeling rather good about himself. "Really Tony, you shouldn't have been snooping around in my computer." he said lazily.

Tony huffed. "Are you complaining about the results?"

"Not at all. I'm very pleased with the outcome."

"There you go then. The end justifies the means." Something else had occurred to Tony. "But you know, that file was sitting right there on the desktop. It's not like I had to go through sub-folders of sub-folders to get to it. Are you sure your subconscious didn't want me to find it all along?"

Bruce pondered the possibility. Could that have been the case? Despite the fact that he and Tony had a fun and easy relationship, Bruce could not have imagined making the first move. Especially with someone like Tony. Before the accident, Bruce was far from suave. So after years of avoiding people, and convincing himself that he couldn't have a relationship, what few skills he'd acquired in the romance department had all but died from neglect. And face it, Tony was a force of nature. You didn't approach it. You waited for it to happen to you, if you were lucky. Having Tony stumble upon that file was about the only way that Bruce could have made his feelings known without having to act for himself. He turned his head to face Tony. "So when did you become an expert in psychology?"

"A couple of days ago while reading some smut." Tony smiled smugly.

"You're never gonna let me live this down, are you?" Bruce resigned himself to years of good-natured teasing. He honestly hoped it would be years.

"No," he grinned at Bruce's pained expression, "but it's a good thing I read through those little numbers. Even if we'd gotten together without the help - scratch that, not 'if' - this would have happened regardless."

"You're sure of that?" Bruce was skeptical.

"Oh yeah. One of us would have broken down and gone for it sooner or later." He made it sound as if it was a stunningly obvious fact. Tony continued. "My point is that you wouldn't have asked for these kinds of things, would you have? Yet you wanna participate in the kinds of activities that were so explicitly depicted in those stories, don't you?"

"Well, most of them." Could this be anymore embarrassing? "I think I'd like to at least try several things."

"Fabulous. But how long do you think we'd have been together before you'd have had the courage to suggest some of them?"

Bruce knew Tony's argument was valid. It was difficult for him to ask for what he wanted, since, generally, he believed that he either didn't deserve it, or he didn't want or bother anyone, or that no one would be interested...the list goes on.

Maybe he did leave that file out in the open so that Tony might eventually find it.

He turned his head back, and stared at the ceiling. Not ready yet to admit that Tony could be right, Bruce tried to deflect. "Could you at least refrain from changing my wallpaper from now on?"

 

A few days later, Tony smiled to himself when he passed by Bruce's monitor, and noticed that his handiwork still remained.

**Author's Note:**

> Written in September 2013.


End file.
